Tweets of the week: When cycling goes mainstream, George Bennett loses his bike, and the sandy Saudi Tour
Two unknown cyclists went viral last weekend, it's a shame that we will never know their identities. All that, and more
Sometimes, the world reminds us just how niche a thing cycling really is. Not just in general, but also in the world of sport. The top riders aren't really famous, apart from in Belgium maybe, not in the same sense as a footballer anywhere, or a cricketer in India.
Yes, this sport that we adore, that we spend our whole lives obsessing over, that we are convinced that everyone would love given the chance, really is not as popular as we wish it was.
Cycling's online world was reminded of this harsh reality last week, as the sport went viral, but not in the ideal way; it was not an exciting moment of racing that broke through, nor even something particularly current, it was a clip from last June's Tour of Slovenia.
The footage from the bike race was shared by all the big meme accounts - who all like to copy each other, one by one - with the caption "two cyclists leading the Tour of Slovenia decided to choose the winner with rock, paper, scissors".
No context was provided for the fact that this was the world's best cyclist, Tadej Pogačar, with his teammate Rafał Majka, or that this was stage four, where the UAE Team Emirates pair had forged off the front of the race together, and had the time to decide which would win.
Obviously, shorn of any explanation, it confused the normies, the people who know nothing of bike racing. One tweeted: "So much for the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat. Congratulations to the winner of the rock, paper, scissors game," while another argued: "Stupid. Opens up the door to all sorts of corruption. Race is a race."
It's fun to be reminded that most people are broadly nonplussed or ignorant of cycling, as someone who works in the sport, and that silly memes are the only way the consciousness is raised. Anyway, all this and more in this week's exciting and not at all demoralising Tweets of the Week!
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1. Two random guys win a random bike race, how cute
A post shared by The Archbishop of Banterbury🇬🇧 (@thearchbishopofbanterbury)
A photo posted by on
2. One of those random guys, two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar, saw the funny side of it
@majkaformal look we are famous 😂January 30, 2023
3. Poor George Bennett, all he wanted to do was fly home to New Zealand and yet Qantas somehow managed to lose his bike. It happens to the best of us
Would love a bit of help from the good people of Australia! Travelled home on @Qantas from Melbourne via Sydney and my bike and everything else has disappeared en route. It’s sitting over there in an airport somewhere. I can’t make contact with them - can anyone help?February 1, 2023
4. An immediate suspect was Nathan Haas, who admitted to the crime publicly
I’m sorry George. I masterminded this.It’s all mine nowFebruary 1, 2023
5. However, thanks to using his power as a vaguely famous person on the internet, and some luck, Bennett got his equipment back. Roll on the Kiwi nationals!
Shout out to the internet (well, more the people on it) for helping me track down my bike. You Legends! Time for a bit of panic training on the roadie pic.twitter.com/M6jZsynOHJFebruary 3, 2023
6. Movistar might already have won two races in 2023, but their tactics still need improving somehow. Finishing third, fourth and fifth is genuinely impressive
A post shared by Wout van Art (@woutvanart)
A photo posted by on
7. Who knew Miguel Ángel López was so small? Not me
It's like Gandalf visiting Hobbiton 😂 pic.twitter.com/E73KjwVEL8January 28, 2023
8. Congrats Emma Finucane, winner of four national titles at the UK track champs last weekend. Shame she had to endure this poorly crafted pun
Emma FOUR-nucane. That's it. That's the tweet. pic.twitter.com/BiHWM5Pj9BJanuary 29, 2023
9. The Saudi Tour has proved, once and for all, that Saudi Arabia is full of sand. That needed investigating
Siri, play Darude – Sandstorm ☀️📸 @GettySport #HumanPoweredHealth | #SaudiTour pic.twitter.com/kRa0ZeEdKLJanuary 31, 2023
10. Christine Majerus, multiple-time Luxembourg national champion, SD Worx road captain deluxe, and now a climber. Good to see climbing is not just an English craze
Some other training for @c_majerus past weekend 🧗♀️@c_majerus: “When you look around the corner to see if next week’s weather will be better.“ Repost 📸 @c_majerus #wesparksuccess pic.twitter.com/rPGezGLJXQJanuary 31, 2023
11. I'm not the only person who knows how to use Photoshop, as Tao Geoghegan Hart proved this week
A post shared by Tao Geoghegan Hart (@taogeogheganhart)
A photo posted by on
12. Rui Costa has already won a race this season, at the Challenge Mallorca, but appears to be good at football too. Or something
Rui Costa did not approve any transfer. He’s riding @VueltaCV tomorrow and currently asleep in the hotel. https://t.co/GDA0CLxiBQJanuary 31, 2023
13. Back to the Saudi Tour and its sand. There's a lot of it!
First images of #Hoogerheide2023 seem to show a totally changed course. This rider doesn't even seem to know how to shoulder their bike though... 🤔#SaudiTour pic.twitter.com/AYHxmoytPWJanuary 31, 2023
14. There's more than sand, though, there's also rampant American commercialism, of course!
Desert Burger King pic.twitter.com/csFcAr6sIfJanuary 31, 2023
15. Finally, as we've made it into February, how many people are hanging onto their resolutions like this?
Me on January 1st: 2023 will be my year.Me on February 2nd: pic.twitter.com/52MpyKBpKyFebruary 2, 2023
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Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW in 2021 he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.
Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to riding bikes.
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